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Case Study: Port au Prince Earthquake, Haiti (Short Term Responses (Rescue…
Case Study: Port au Prince Earthquake, Haiti
Background Infomation
Haiti sits on a complex strike-slip fault. At this fault line, the Caribbean and North American plates slide past one another in an east-west direction.
Based on the average movement of 7mm since the last earthquake of 1751, the plates were jammed. On 12th January the stress of the surrounding rocks was finally overcome.
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Primary Effects
Social
Between 230,000 and 250,000 lives were lost with many people killed by collapsing buildings.
Port au Prince, home to 2 million people, was flattened in less than 60 seconds.
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Economic
50% of buildings collapsed, including key government buildings such as the police headquarters and the parliament.
Infrastructure was brought down - the main port in the capital subsided and became unusable, roads were cracks and blocked by building debris.
Environmental
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Damage was localised - for example, buildings built on hard bedrock near the epicentre suffered less damaged.
The landscape was permanently changed - corals were pushed upwards to the north of the fault line whilst farmland collapsed into the sea in the south.
Secondary Effects
Social
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With the main prison destroyed in Port au Prince and the police force crippled, the city became lawless.
By the first anniversary of the earthquake, cholera had killed over 1500 and 1.5 million people were still homeless.
Economic
With the loss of hundreds of civil servants and the destruction of ministries, the Haiti government was crippled.
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Short Term Responses
Rescue
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Local people employed by the UN Development Project pulled survivors out from the debris and cleared roads.
Infrastructure
In Port au Prince, the US Military took control of the airport to speed up the distribution of aid and re-opened one of the two piers in the port.
Security
16,000 UN troops and police restored law and order, coordinated by a new UN/US joint Operations Tasking Centre.
Food
In absence of local food markets, the UN World Food Programme provided basic food necessities.
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Shelter
692,000 survivors lived in 291 make-shift camps.
235,000 took advantage of free transportation to cities in the north and southwest.
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Long Term Responses
Aid
A single Haiti Fund manages an $11.5 billion reconstruction package with controls in place to prevent corruption.
Food
The farming sector was reformed to encourage greater self-sufficiency and less reliance on food and imports.
Health
A shift was made to focus on follow-up care, including mental health.
Buildings
Hospitals, schools and government buildings were rebuilt to new life safe building codes.
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Slums were demolished and new settlements built away from high-risk areas, such as unstable hill sides. New homes are more affordable, safe and sustainable.
Economy
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A UN strategy was developed to create new jobs in clothing, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture, and also to reduce effects of uncontrolled urbanisation.
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